“God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.” ... Daniel Webster ...
These posts will reflect my personal opinions, and views, of the world in which we live from, of course, the viewpoint of a conservative "Southern American".

BY: Jeff Dunetz

Now that the election is over Barack Obama no longer has to appeal to
supporters of Israel or haters of terrorism--so he is about to appoint
former Senator Chuck Hagel to replace Leon Panetta as Secretary of
Defense.

Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is likely to be President Barack
Obama's next pick for Secretary of Defense, although the White House has
yet to finalize its decision for the cabinet appointment.

A former Pentagon official tells NBC News that Hagel is the likely
pick for the post, while another White House insider says that, while
Hagel is a top candidate, it's unclear if the president has made a final
decision.

A senior administration official tells NBC News that "no decision" has been made on the nomination.

Bloomberg News reported Thursday that President Barack Obama spoke to Hagel about the position on December 4.

Hagel, who served two terms in the United States Senate representing his
home state of Nebraska, has been a member of the president's Foreign
Intelligence Advisory Board as well as a member of the faculty of
Georgetown University since leaving Capitol Hill in 2009.

Why should supporters of Israel be worried about Hagel? Don't take my
word for it---in an attempt to be bi-partisan, I posted below what the
National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) warned about Sen. Hagel's
lousy record on Israel in 2007. (They took the page down when Obama
began to express interest in Hagel for his administration...but I saved it here. Below are some of the details:

In August 2006, Hagel was one of only 12 Senators who refused to write the EU asking them to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

In October 2000, Hagel was one of only 4 Senators who refused to sign a Senate letter in support of Israel.

In November 2001, Hagel was one of only 11 Senators who refsued to
sign a letter urging President Bush not to meet with the late Yassir
Arafat until his forces ended the violence against Israel.

In December 2005, Hagel was one of only 27 who refused to sign a
letter to President Bush to pressure the Palestinian Authority to ban
terrorist groups from participating in Palestinian legislative
elections.

In June 2004, Hagel refused to sign a letter urging President Bush to highlight Iran's nuclear program at the G-8 summit.

I don't want to leave you with the impression that everyone hates
Hagel's record on Israel. The same NJDC artic did cite one group that
supported Hagel's Middle East efforts--CAIR, the American organization
created by the Muslim Brotherhood is a fan of Hagel:

“Potential presidential candidates for 2008, like Hillary Clinton,
John McCain, Joe Biden and Newt Gingrich, were falling all over
themselves to express their support for Israel. The only exception to
that rule was Senator Chuck Hagel …” [Council on American-Islamic
Relations, 8/28/06]

Then there was that nice little speech he made during the Senate debate
about the surge where he seemed to justify terrorism by the
Palestinians "who have been chained down." (see video below the fun part
starts at 5:40-if you cannot see video click here)

Senator Hagel often appears before Arab-American groups to air his views
regarding the Middle East. Among the gems of wisdom: support for Israel
shouldn't be automatic. .

He has also joined a chorus of people surrounding Barack Obama who use the anti-Semitic meme about the so-called Jewish Lobby.Says Hagel: "The political reality is that... the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here." This audio should be heard to truly gauge his own feelings.Note his use of the term "Jewish Lobby". There are many millions of
Americans who are not Jewish, who support the American-Israel
relationship. Hagel pushes the meme that Jews control American foreign
policy (if they did--they would do a better job than this
administration).

As Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel would play a key role in working with
his Israeli counterparts when formulating strategies that would promote
our mutual interests in the region. The Israeli and American defense
industries and departments have a long record of working closely
together-an alliance that has been mutually beneficial and that has
proven crucial in giving Israel the tools she has needed to defend
herself from a wide range of adversaries boasting of her coming
destruction, and the US the benefits of Israel's years of
counter-terrorism experience.

The Secretary of Defense is a key player in our fight against terrorism.
Yet Hagel does not believe Hezbollah is a terrorist group, thinks we
should be talking to Hamas and that Iran isn't a threat. This man
cannot be the best choice for America.Back in 2009 when Hagel was appointed to a minor position in the Obama
administration Ira Forman then executive director of the NJDC suggested that NJDC would publicly oppose Hagel's nomination for a position with more authority. "If
[Hagel] was taking a policy role, we'd have real concerns," Forman
said. And Forman indicated that his group would oppose Hagel's
appointment to any position that had influence over U.S.-Israel
relations. Lets see if they follow through or if they are simply tools for the Obama administration.

About Me

J. D. Longstreet is a conservative Southern American (A native sandlapper and an adopted Tar Heel) with a deep passion for the history, heritage, and culture of the southern states of America. At the same time he is a deeply loyal American believing strongly in “America First”.